I'm back & headed to Gary Johnston's class this weekend

I'm back from a short vacation just in time to take Gary Johnston's Financial Freedom Principles class. A lot of messages & questions await my response...  I'll be ready to answer them starting Tuesday after class.  Hope to see you there.

Cracked Pots

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.

At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full..

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water..

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.

But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.

'I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.

The old woman smiled, 'Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?'

'That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.  For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.  Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.'


Each of us has our own unique flaw(s).  But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.  You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.


    SO, to all of my cracked pot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!

Show your ID!

I don't ask for anything more than that asked of me.

I'm a legal American citizen and I must show my ID when: 
 

1.  Pulled over by the police.

2.  Making purchases on my department store   Credit card. 

3.  When I show up for a doctor's appointment.
4.  When filling out a credit card or loan application.
5.  When applying for or renewing a driver's license or passport. 
6.  When applying for any kind of insurance.
7.  When filling out college applications.
8.  When donating blood.
9.  When obtaining certain prescription drugs.

10.  When making some debit purchases, especially if I'm out of state.

11. When collecting a boarding pass for airline or train travel.

I'm sure there are more instances, but the point is that we citizens of the USA  are required to prove who we are nearly every day!

Why should people in this country illegally, be exempt!!!!!

Why shouldn't we guard our borders as closely as every other country in the world does? 

                               Go ARIZONA !!!

Stupid is as stupid does. I think we'd be much better off with Forrest Gump in Congress. Their decisions via Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac have led to new & stupid lending criteria. Want a home? Abstain from sex until after you get a loan! And then if you do get blessed with a pregnancy, maybe the lender will go after you for falsifying your loan application!!!

Need a Mortgage? Don’t Get Pregnant!

Published: Tuesday, 20 Jul 2010 | 11:14 AM E

Expectant parents shopping for a home are not the only ones concerned about the date of the baby’s arrival.

Mortgage lenders are taking a harder look at prospective borrowers whose income has temporarily fallen while they are on leave, including new parents at home taking care of a baby. Even if a parent plans on returning to work within weeks, some lenders are balking at approving the loans. 

...

The lenders’ new attitude can be traced, in part, to new loan quality-control measures that went into effect earlier this year. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two quasi-governmental mortgage giants that buy the bulk of conventional loans from lenders, have not changed their rules for qualifying for a mortgage. But the system of checks and balances has been tightened, making lenders increasingly skittish. 

Fannie, for instance, now requires lenders to recheck a borrower’s financial situation right before the loan closes. That includes calling an employer to verify employment. Before, lenders required only a statement in writing. Fannie’s new rules went into effect on June 1. Freddie’s similar rule took effect in January.

For the entire article go to: Need a Mortgage? Don’t Get Pregnant!

REO Investors Sue for Losses in Alleged Scam

This is why we preview all speakers before they get in front of an SDCIA meeting!

REO Investors Sue for Losses in Alleged Scam

Monday, July 12th, 2010, 9:51 pm

Fortuno, a company that bills itself as the "Costco of real estate," has been sued by investors in Los Angeles Superior Court for allegedly duping them into buying what were essentially worthless REO properties.

The unrelated plaintiffs claim they were mislead into investing in an REO property flipping scheme that left them with virtually worthless properties, while Lodi, Calif.-based Fortuno made money off the deals, according to the suit, filed by the Law Offices of Andrew M. Wyatt of Los Angeles.

for more... click on: REO Investors Sue for Losses in Alleged Scam

Hopefully, the investors get some or all of their money back... not likely!

CHP are busy giving out lots of tickets

Has anyone else noticed that the California Highway Patrol are issuing many, many more tickets than ever before?  It seems every time I'm on the road I see at least two citations being issued.  Do you think they're trying to make up California's budget deficit?

Crabby Old Man

I spent a lot of time recently in a hospital and saw lots of lonely people. B
 
Crabby Old Man

What do you see nurses? . . .. .. . What do you see?
What are you thinking . . . . . when you're looking at me?
A crabby old man . . .. . . not very wise,
Uncertain of habit . . . . . with faraway eyes?

Who dribbles his food . . . . . and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice . . . . . 'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice . .. . . . the things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . A sock or shoe?

Who, resisting or not . . . . . lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . . . . . The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking? . . . . . Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse . . . . . you're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am. . . . .. . As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, . . . . . as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten . . . . . with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters . . . . . who love one another.

A young boy of Sixteen . . . . with wings on his feet.
Dreaming that soon now . .. . . . a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . . . . my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows . . . . . that I promised to keep.

At Twenty-Five, now . . . . . I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . . . .. . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . . . . With ties that should last.

At Forty, my young sons . . .. . . have grown and are gone,
But my woman's beside me . . . . . to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more, babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children . . .. . . My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me . . . . . my wife is now dead.
I look at the future . . . . . shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing . . . . . young of their own.
And I think of the years . . . . . and the love that I've known.

I'm now an old man . ... . . . and nature is cruel.
Tis jest to make old age . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles . . . . . grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone . . . . where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass . . . . . a young guy still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys . . . . . I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living . . . . . life over again.

I think of the years, all too few . . . .. . gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people . . . . . open and see.
Not a crabby old man .. . . Look closer . . . see ME!!